The invention relates to a method of manufacturing an optoelectronic semiconductor device which comprises an optoelectronic semiconductor element--usually called element hereinafter for short--, which element provided with a first contact surface is fastened to a carrier provided with a second contact surface, the element being so fastened on the carrier that the two contact surfaces enclose an angle with one another and an electrical connection between the two contact surfaces is formed by at least one wire connection. The invention also relates to an element suitable for use in such a method.
Such a method is frequently used in the manufacture of, for example, a semiconductor diode laser comprising optoelectronic devices which form part of a read and/or write head of information-processing equipment such as laser printers, bar code readers, read and/or write devices for optical registration carders such as CD (Audio) and CDROM (data) discs and of systems for optical glass fibre communication. The desired direction of a radiation beam from and to such an element often demands such a spatial orientation of the element that a contact surface of the element will have an angled position relative to a contact surface of the carrier after its fastening on this carrier. When a wire connection is to be made between the two contact surfaces by means of a wire bonding unit, accordingly, at least one of these contact surfaces will be at an angle relative to the head of the wire bonding unit. The provision of a wire connection by means of a wire bonding unit thus becomes problematic or even impossible.
A method of the kind mentioned in the opening paragraph is known from JP(A) 2-86184 published in Patent Abstracts of Japan, vol. 13, no. 273(E-940){4216} of Jun. 13, 1990. This describes and shows how an element, i.e. a diode laser 1, is so mounted on a carrier 3 that the radiation beam of the diode laser 1 is perpendicular to the carrier 3, so that a first contact surface of the diode laser 1, here the upper surface thereof, is at right angles to a second contact surface present on the carrier 3, here the upper surface of a pin 11 provided in the carrier. An electrical connection between the two contact surfaces is formed here by two wire connections and an interposed insulating block 6 on which two mutually perpendicular and interconnected conductor tracks 5a, 5b are present. The two wire connections may be readily made by means of a wire bonding unit. This is because each wire connection is laid between two parallel surfaces, i.e. between the upper surface of pin 11 and the surface of track 5b, and between the upper surface of diode laser 1 and the surface of track 5a. The problem of providing an electrical connection between two contact surfaces which are at an angle relative to one another is solved in this manner.
A disadvantage of the known method is that it is laborious and expensive. Indeed, two wire connections are made, the device or the wire bonding unit must be rotated between making of the wire connections, and an additional component is used. Naturally, optoelectronic devices manufactured by the known method are expensive as a result.